The application field is in the market of flavored beverages, energy beverages, food supplements, vitamin supplements, natural supplements, medicine supplements, chemical supplements or others, that once mixed with the liquid the shelf life of the product is substantially reduced. As such, once mixed they must be consumed or used in a short term.
The product or concentrate to be mixed can be powder, pellets or liquid retained in the cavity or seal of the cap. The cap or lid is used to hermetically close: the bottles or containers that were previously filled with the liquid in the filling lines; the bottle with its cap ready to be delivered to the market; a bottle labeling operation; and/or a secondary packing that may still be pending.
It is possible to fill the caps beforehand in a parallel caps filling line, in the bottling plant, and feed these caps with the concentrate to the bottling lines. It is also possible to fill them in a separate plant and deliver them to the bottling plant for attachment thereof in the line during bottling.
Once filled with the product, the caps are placed in the mouth of the bottles by means of a closing machine, which is part of the bottling line once the bottles have been filled with water or another liquid during the bottling process, the finished product is ready to be delivered to the market.
Once the finished bottle is in the hands of the end user, he/she will activate the mechanism to release the product, which will mix with the liquid. The end user will then shake the bottle. Once the product and liquid are mixed, the bottle is opened by twisting the cap to break the seal band (that may not be in the body of the cap). In this way the mixture of the liquid with the product is ready for consumption.
In the state of the art, there are caps or lids having some drawbacks in relation with the cap of the present invention, as is case of a “Lacto Tab™” cap, which is a cap used in the “Lacto Tab™” product of EMMI, from Switzerland. The “Lacto Tab™” cap comprises five plastic parts and a bottle with a special neck. The cap comprises a capsule formed with two aluminum sheets. In this capsule is contained the powder or liquid product, be it a flavoring, vitamin or energy supplement. This capsule is attached on the neck of the bottle and it adheres by means of an induction process, next the special shape and form cap, matching the neck of the bottle.
The cap is operated in the following manner. The cap is twisted clockwise, which breaks the seal or security band. By further twisting, an inner stem moves downwards, the stem on its lower end having teeth or spikes that twist with downwards movements. The aluminum cap is torn, allowing pouring of the product into the liquid contained in the bottle. Agitation of the package mixes the product with the liquid, thus making the mixture of the product with the liquid, and the resultant beverage ready for drinking. The cap in its top has a protection cover, which is withdrawn and the seal is pulled allowing exit of the liquid already mixed. This concept is used in caps of the type known as “sport,” “sport cap”, or “push-pull”, as pushing the seal downwards again closes the exit duct of the product again.
In this product, this cap was used rarely and eventually went off the market since it was unsuccessful. Its cost was very high, and it consisted of five parts. In addition, the aluminum capsule must be pre-filled with the product, the cap requires assembly and a special neck in the bottle is required. In addition, it requires a special capping device or capping machine to set the aluminum capsule and then the cap, all this increases the cost of the product.
Another cap in the state of the art is the one-piece dispensing lid. The one-piece dispensing lid comprises a cylindrical section for storage of the product, which is sealed with an aluminum foil. The aluminum foil closes the storage section of the product. The cap has a semicircular section in the inner part, whose diameter bears in the wall of the storage section. In the center it has a stem that in the lower end has a series of spikes, this part being within the storage section.
The cap works in the following way. The concentrate product as a powder or a liquid is placed in the storage section, sealed with the aluminum foil, ready to be set. In the filling line, the caps are attached to the bottles with a standard neck of the market.
Once the bottle is in the hands of the consumer, he/she pushes downwards the semicircular part that is located at the center of the cap in the top part of the bottle. With this action, a stem is driven downwards. With the spikes located on its lower end, the stem breaks the aluminum seal, and allows the passage of the product towards the liquid with which it is mixed by the consumer agitating the bottle. Once the product has been mixed with the liquid, the cap is removed, just like the standard caps are removed, breaking the seal band and the product being ready for consumption.
Sometimes the rupture or tearing of the aluminum part is not enough to allow the complete exit of the product, resulting in a poor mixture, since the stroke of the stem is limited by the semi-circle. The cost of the injection molding is very high, since the form of the spikes in the stem is complex requiring molds of plastic injection with complex mechanisms that makes too expensive the cost of the piece. Also, sometimes the semicircular sector where the pressure was applied to break the aluminum returns to its original position, without sufficient tearing of the aluminum seal. This results in a poor mixture of liquid with product. It is efficient only for liquids, with problems when the concentrate is a powder or pellets.
US2011/0108442 published May 12, 2011, inventor Young-Kook Cho describes a beverage container cap dispensing a flavoring material contained in the bottle, comprising at least two parts. The cap body defines a hollow compartment filled with a flavoring concentrate and a central insert separating such compartments from the inside of the bottle. The insert is released by thread twisting opposite the body of the cap up to a stop in which the concentrate release is ensured.
US2011/0089059 published Apr. 21, 2011, inventor Lane Marvin et al, describes a flip top cap for the release of a concentrate with a central release hole. The cap comprises a round body with a plurality of additive containing compartments, which is released by pressing with a finger downwards to break the seal and release it to the inside of the container for mixing by means of agitation.
US2010/0044254, published on Feb. 25, 2010, inventor Joseph Romeo, describes a cap or closure adapted to release a flavoring concentrate within the container to mix with the contents thereof. The cap is provided with several sections, the top one containing the concentrate to be released through a valve activated by twisting the central part.
US2010/0012532 published Jan. 21, 2010, inventor Frutin Bernard, describes a cap for a container with means to introduce an additive within the contents of the container. The cap has a round body coupled to an external thread on the neck of the container, a flip top and a central compartment having a concentrate for release therethrough. The cap has a central stem with the lower end adapted as a valve to release the concentrate, which is made by pressing the stem downwards to disconnect the retaining valve.
US2009/0236303 published on Sep. 24, 2009, inventor Lizerbram Eric et al, describes a threadable cap adapted to release a concentrate or additive in the inside of the container. The cap has four pieces, a base with the compartment for the additive, a central stem, a beak for sucking and an anti-tamper seal. In addition, the cap has a membrane acting as a barrier to retain the additive which is torn by the stem.
Korean patent application KR20090014699, published on Feb. 11, 2009, inventor Young-Kook Cho, describes an additive cap provided with a cylindrical skirt with an internal thread for coupling with the external thread of the bottle, and an internal cylindrical body having two side holes allowing the addition of the additive to the liquid inside the container. The internal cylindrical body is acted upwards to free the dispensing holes or windows.
Korean patent application KR20070060132 corresponding to (U.S. Pat. No. 7,562,782), published on Jun. 12, 2007, inventor Yorita Katsuhiko, describes a container cap allowing the release of an additive within the container, provided with a lower deposit sealed by a stem with a seal tab. The stem is acted upwards to allow release of the additive.
US2007/0102394 published on May 10, 2007, inventor Olsen Geir L. et al, describes a bottle closure, provided with an additive containing cavity for release within the container. The release is made by acting on a central stem breaking the seal at the base of the closure and allowing the pouring of the additive for mixing with the contents of the container.
WO2006123946, published Nov. 23, 2006, inventor Sharp Jeffrey John, describes a cap or closure provided with a central flexible diaphragm holding a cylindrical structure in which a lower border having beaks which by pressure on the diaphragm breaks the seal place on the base of the cap with a hollow cylindrical body in which the additive for release is held.
Mexican patent application MXPA06002700 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 7,475,774), published Sep. 4, 2006, inventor Clarkson Aron Joseph, describes a threadable cap provided with a cylindrical central compartment sealed by a metallic film that together with the cylindrical wall defines a compartment having an additive containing compartment for release within the container. The film is torn by knives or spikes located in the lower end of the central compartment by twisting the body of the cap, which raises such knives to tear the seal and release the additive.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,926,138, published Aug. 9, 2005, inventor Basham Mark Floyd et al, describes a cap for additive release into the contents of a container. The cap includes a threadable cylindrical body and a hollow central stem holding the additive to be released, having in its lower end a release preventing membrane. Driving the stem breaks the membrane and allows pouring the additive within the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,170,654, published Jan. 9, 2001, inventor Gartner Bradley Francis et al, describes a cap provided with a blister containing an additive released simultaneously with the opening of the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,152,296, published Nov. 28, 2000, inventor Shih Kuang-Sheng, describes a cap provided with an additive holder. The cap is suitable for polyethylene terephthalate (“PET”) bottles. The cap comprises a threadable round body, an engageable cover protecting the hollow cylindrical central stem containing the additive and covered in its lower end with a metallic film that prevents the exit of the additive. By removing the cover and pressing the stem downwards the film is broken by the lower internal knives forming part of the cylindrical guide of the stem.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,865, published Feb. 27, 1990, inventor C. Michael Janowitz, describes a cap releasing an additive exerting pressure downwards. The cap comprises a threadable round skirt and a stem like central compartment with a metallic film in the lower border to define an additive containing compartment. By applying pressure downwards on the stem, the additive is released within the container for mixing with the contents thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,722,449, published on Feb. 2, 1988, inventor Dubach Werner F., describes a two part closure or cap provided with an additive top compartment and a lower beak tearing the film or seal on the beak of the container. The cap contains the additive and by twisting thereof presses the beak to break it and release the contents in the container to effect the mixture with its contents.